Metal-lath construction.



lilhlITFD STATFE PATIENT UFFICE.

METAL LATl'l CONSTRUCTlQN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 24:, 1905.

Application filed November 3, 1904. Serial No. 281,290.

To all 111700111 if; m/uq concern:

Be it known that I, ALFRED S. ALSOHUL'ER, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State ofIllinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement inMetal-Lath Construction, of

which the following is a full, clear, concise,

and exact description.

My invention relates to sheet metal lathing designed more particularlyfor the outer walls of buildings where it is desirable to provide anair-space between the plaster and the brick or other wall which is to becovered.

My metal lath is formed from sheets which may be, for example, fromtwenty-two to thirty-six inches wide and which, extending from floor toceiling, are secured by staples, which may be inserted through openingsat the lapped edges of contiguous strips and driven into the wall. Incase of brick walls, which I have more particularly in mind, theopenings will be selected which register or approximately register withthe mortar joints.

The best results are obtained by stamping sheets of metal to formtongues upon the rear portion thereof, which tongues are bent backpreferably at less than right angles to the general surface of thesheet. It is suflicient if the spaces in the sheet of metal which resultfrom stamping out and bending back the tongue amount in the aggregateto, say, from one-eighth to one-fifth of the entire surface. Thispermits the mortar to be forced through the openings to form keys tohold the main body of the plaster in place. The tongues, extendingbackward and preferably, say, [ifteen degrees upwardly from thehorizontal, receive the mortar forced through the open ings, and whenthe same hardens a dead-air space is formed between the wall and thelath. In case the mortar, which is forced through to form keys, touchesthe wall it will be only at comparatively small points. In this mannorthe dead-air space is made practically coextensive with the surface ofthe wall that is covered.

I n the drawings which are illustrative of my invention, Figure 1 is anelevation showing the lath in place, a portion thereof being covered byplaster. Fig. 2 is a full-sized sectional view on line 2 2 of Fig. 1.Fig. 3 is an iso metric view which may be considered as full size. Fig.t is a sectional view on line 3 3 of Fig. 1, showing the manner ofstapling the sheets of lath to the brick wall; and Figs. 5

and 6 are perspective views illustrating modifications in the form ofthe tongues.

Like parts are indicated by similar letters of reference throughout thedifferent figures.

The sheet of metal a may be quite thin-say one-fiftieth to oneone-hundredth of an inch in thickness. The tongues 7) I have madefiveeighths of an inch wide and seven-eighths of an inch long. Thesedimensions, however, admit of considerable variation, not only as tosize, but as to number, within a given area.

As shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 4:, the sheets or strips of lath are placedagainst the wall with the tongues touching the wall, as shown in Fig. 2.Staples to hold the same securely in place, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4,are driven through the openings in contiguous strips and into the mortarjoints of the wall. I consider it sufficient to drive the staples at thejoints and edges, as shown in Fig. 1. It is, however, evident that, ifdesired, staples may be driven at as frequent intervals as may bethought best throughout the surface, the particular openings to beembraced by the staples being selected at points opposite joints in thebrick, so that the staples may be driven in to hold the lath with thetongues pressed against or touching the wall.

The preferable position of the tongues is illustrated in the drawings.They are shown with their inner ends touching the brick wall, with theirfiat surfaces rising about fifteen degrees from the horizontal toreceive the mortar 0, which is forced through the openings and which,resting on the tongues, may project downwardly below the edges thereof.I have shown the first coat of plaster (:Z and a second coat a. By thisconstruction it will be observed that no furring either by wooden ormetal strips is required upon the wall, since the staples hold the lathin place, and the tongues touching the wall provide a sufficiently solidsupport. WVhen the plaster is put on and hardens, the tongues arereinforced by the mortar c, which is forced through the openings andsupported upon the upper surfaces of the tongues. In Fig. 5 I have shownthe tongues 7" cut narrower at the top than at the bottom, thusrestricting the size of the openings. In Fig. 6 I have shown the inneredges g of the tongues bent upwardly to provide a plane bearing-surfaceto come against the wall and at the same time prevent the mortar fromtouching the wall, since the mortar which extends through the openingswill come against the upturned edges and ordinarily will not extendabove the same. With this arrangement dampness which the wall maycontain is prevented from reaching the mortar or plaster.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, the following:

1. The combination with sheet-metal lathing provided with tongues I), ofthe brick Wall and the plastering, said lathing being stapled to thewall by staples inserted through openings formed in cutting the tonguesto press the tongues against the wall, the tongues being attached to thelower edges of the openings, the mortar forced through the openingscoming against the tongues and being supported thereby; whereby adead-air space is formed between the plaster and the wall practicallycoextensive with the surface of the wall that is covered, substantiallyas and for the purpose specified.

2. The combination with sheet-metal lathing provided with tongues 6, ofthe brick wall and the plastering, said lathing being stapled to thewall to press the tongues against the same, the tongues being attachedto the lower edges of their corresponding openings respectively andhaving their inner ends bent upwardly and lying against said wall, themortar forced through the openings coming against the tongues and beingsupported thereby; Whereby a dead-air space is formed between theplaster and the with practically coextensive with the surface of thewall that is covered, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

3. The combination of metal strips of lathing With the brick wall of thebuilding, said strips having overlapping edges, staples inserted throughopenings in the strips and driven into the mortar joints of the wall tosecure the strips together and to the wall throughout the extent of thesurface covered; the said strips being provided with tongues stamped outfrom the metal to leave openings therein,

said tongues being attached at the lower edges of the openings andextending rearwardly,

and the plaster' supported by the lath; substantially as shown anddescribed.

at. The combination with the sheet-metal lath provided with tonguesformed from the metal sheet and projecting backwardly, of the brickwall, staples inserted through openings in the metal sheet and driveninto the mortar joints of the wall to secure the lath in place with thetongues pressed against the surface of the wall, and the plasteringcovering the face of the lath and having portions thereof forced throughthe openings to form keys to hold the plastering in place, the tongueshaving their flat surfaces in position to receive and support the mortarforced through the openings; whereby the plastering is solidlysupported, and a dead-air space secured between the face of the wall andplaster substantially as shown and described.

5. The sheet-metal lath provided with the tongues cut or stamped out tobe integral with the main sheet and adapted to serve as spacers betweenthe wall to be covered, in combination with the wall, the sheet of metallath being stapled or secured to said wall, said tongues being flexibleand bent slightly to permit them individually to yield to any unevensurface of the wall, and the plaster covering the outer surface andforced through the openings formed by the displacement of the portionsof the sheet forming the tongues, the mortar forced through the openingsbeing supported on said tongues; whereby a dead-air space is formedbetween the plastering and the wall, substantially as and for thepurpose specified.

In witness whereof I hereunto subscribe my name this 29th day ofOctober, A. D. 1904.

ALFRED S. ALSOHULER.

Witness es:

GEORGE P. BARTON, IRVING MACDONALD.

